Base Materials for Printed Circuit Boards in Aerospace Applications

Printed circuit boards have become an integral part of modern electronics. They have evolved from a pure component carrier to an active and important electronic component in their own right. The use of high-frequency materials in particular opens up new possibilities in radar technology or phased array antennas.
 
Isola is a leading manufacturing company of base materials for printed circuit boards. We design, develop and produce copper-clad laminates and dielectric prepregs for the manufacture of multilayer electronic circuits (printed circuit boards).
 
We have a manufacturing facility in Düren, Germany. Isola is the only base material manufacturer in the world with additional production facilities, research and development, and technical support and sales teams in Asia and the United States. Why is this important? As one of two remaining base material manufacturers in Europe, it enables us to support our customers all over the world from start to finish, from prototype to series production, and to supply them with security of supply. Knowledge sharing and collaboration are at the heart of our values, and our global teams work closely together to deliver the best solutions every time.
 
Throughout our history of more than 100 years, Isola has made significant innovations in materials development and qualification to bring reliable products to market from day one. Today, we continue to work on the next generation of materials and their characterization, which will open up a multitude of new ideas and opportunities.
 
In addition to the Automotive & Transportation, Networking & Communication, Medical, Industrial & Instrumentation market segments, Isola serves the aerospace applications sector, in particular, with its high-speed digital and RF/microwave materials. In addition to excellent high-frequency properties, these materials also offer high glass transition temperatures, very high decomposition temperatures and low expansion rates – all properties that are required for demanding aerospace applications.
 
Typical applications are: avionics, flight control and communication systems, satellite applications (LEO and geostationary), antenna, radar and control systems.
 
Together with its direct customers, well-known PCB manufacturers in Europe and worldwide, Isola designs, develops and qualifies optimal assemblies for multilayer PCBs that are characterized by their performance and reliability. Reliability, in particular, is an absolute necessity for aerospace applications.
 
Well-known players in this industry have been using these systems successfully for years. New technologies such as Internet over Satellite or CubeSat require ever lighter and thinner PCBs and therefore correspondingly thin copper-clad laminates and prepregs. Isola is able to provide sufficient quantities of such laminates down to a minimum thickness of just 50 µm worldwide.
 
In addition to the trend towards miniaturization, the new requirements of electromobility – also and especially in aircraft construction – must also be taken into account. This technology can and will revolutionize aircraft construction in the future and requires particularly suitable PCB materials. High currents and power, coupled with special thermal management, require materials that can withstand such conditions in daily use without any problems. Isola can offer the optimum material for the corresponding application from over 20 different resin formulations.
 
Many of our materials meet the stringent requirements of Airbus directive ABD0031, “Fireworthiness Requirements Pressurized Section of Fuselage”, by passing tests for flammability, heat generation, smoke generation and toxic fume degassing.
 
Isola has the following certificates in addition to UL approval: ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 50001:2011 and ISO 45001
 
By Adolf Sommer, Head of Tech Service and Application Engineering Central Europe. The original article was published in Aerospace NRW Magazine in January 2025. 

04 February 2025